May 68

May 68 was a period of civil unrest that occurred in France from May to June 1968, sparked by student unrest at Paris University at Nanterre in the capital of Paris. On 2 May 1968, the Gaullist conservative regime of Charles de Gaulle shut down the university to end the unrest, leading to students at the Sorbonne University joining in the protests. Dissent spread to factories, and it was not long before 11,000,000 workers (22% of the population of France) went on strike against the French government. May 68 was the nation's first wildcat general strike and the largest attempted general strike in the country. Police were sent to the Latin Quarter to forcibly suppress protesters, leading to violence that would end on 23 June 1968 after De Gaulle announced snap legislative elections. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou's conservative Union of Democrats for the Republic would win the elections after Pompidou rallied the support of the "silent majority", and the communist and socialist electoral alliance of Francois Mitterand collapsed, losing 60 seats.